15 october 2024 : The Supreme Court declined to halt the ongoing panchayat elections in Punjab on Tuesday, stating that doing so on polling day would result in chaos. Voting for approximately 13,000 panchayats in Punjab began at 8 am.
CJI DY Chandrachud, leading the Bench, commented on a petition seeking to suspend the panchayat polls, saying, “There will be chaos if we stay the polling that too on the polling day.” He added, “If polling has started today, how can we intervene at this stage? The high court likely recognized the seriousness of the situation and lifted the stay on the elections.”
While the Supreme Court refused to stop the polls, it agreed to consider petitions challenging the Punjab and Haryana High Court’s decision to allow the elections. The High Court had dismissed around 1,000 petitions calling for the cancellation of the panchayat elections and had vacated the stay on the polling process, thus enabling the elections to proceed on October 15.
